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Dominic Bird re-arrested in Malaysia

Caitlyn GribbinUpdated
Tue 10 Sep 2013, 2:13 PM AEST

The lawyer for a Perth man who was acquitted of drug charges in a Malaysian court last week is today arguing for him to be allowed to leave the country. Dominic Bird was about to fly back to Australia when Malaysian authorities re-arrested him yesterday.

Transcript

ELEANOR HALL: The lawyer for a Perth man who was acquitted of drug charges in a Malaysian court last week is today arguing for him to be allowed to leave the country.

Dominic Bird was about to fly back to Australia when Malaysian authorities re-arrested him yesterday.

As Caitlyn Gribbin reports.

CAITLYN GRIBBIN: Dominic Bird's lawyer is expected to argue in court today on behalf of the Perth man.

Mr Bird was last week acquitted of drug charges in Malaysia. He'd been accused of trying to sell methamphetamine to an undercover police officer. The charges would've brought the death penalty.

Mr Bird was at the airport yesterday when he was told an appeal had been filed and he would be detained under an interim court order.

His lawyer is Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.

MUHAMMAD SHAFEE ABDULLAH: He in fact was already at the airport. The immigration has already brought him to the airport. He has collected his boarding pass but they were holding his passport in spite of the fact that a boarding pass has been issued to him.

So he was actually stopped from going onto the plane hardly 15 minutes before the plane's departure. He was taken back to detention.

MUHAMMAD SHAFEE ABDULLAH: He feels very frustrated because he thought he went through the entire legal process and he won the case fair and square. And this is, well he feels that this is injustice to him.

CAITLYN GRIBBIN: Mr Abdullah will argue that the judge's decision last week should stand.

MUHAMMAD SHAFEE ABDULLAH: Would be basically to support the judge's decision in the high court and to point to the court that this decision was made by seriously and anxious consideration that the judge has given. The appeal has been filed. It is in a legal sense underway. But a question is not about the appeal. The question is whether one can be rearrested when one has been acquitted.

CAITLYN GRIBBIN: Mr Abdullah says Mr Bird should be allowed to come back to Australia before any appeal is heard.